Unsealed court documents show teen addiction was big tech's "top priority"

Re:Unsealed court documents show teen addiction was big tech... by hansvm on Thursday February 05, 2026 @01:32PM (#46903036)

How did that work mechanically though? At YT we were banned from doing basically anything with pre-18yo data, even if we only suspected they might possibly not be an adult -- no A/B tests, no ML, no ad targeting, no nada. Did leadership design a system where those sorts of things would happen anyway? Were there just enough rogue teams to cause problems?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Unsealed court documents show teen addiction was big tech... by jacquesm on Thursday February 05, 2026 @01:35PM (#46903092)

Because the product is made to appeal to that particular demographic. The data doesn't really matter if you have that kind of reach.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Unsealed court documents show teen addiction was big tech... by worik on Thursday February 05, 2026 @02:20PM (#46903791)

> At YT we were banned from doing basically anything with pre-18yo data

I guess things are different at Google now.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Unsealed court documents show teen addiction was big tech... by iwontberude on Thursday February 05, 2026 @01:39PM (#46903163)

For business, government, and religion: achieving scale and centralization necessarily leads to corrupt outcomes. This is also where Marx’s legitimate criticisms of capitalism turn into a solution which is essentially its doppelgänger, a scaled system of corruption with absolute authority with the rhetorical veneer of democracy.

[ Parent | on HN ]